


Amad, Kili is running away

by stardust009



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Baby Dwarves, Durin Family, Gen, dwarflings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-02
Updated: 2016-05-02
Packaged: 2018-06-06 00:28:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6729898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardust009/pseuds/stardust009
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Young Kili is upset and angry with Uncle Thorin so he decides to run away...after telling Fili and Dis so that she'll pack him some cookies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amad, Kili is running away

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, first fic for this fandom, just a short story. Completely inspired by this adorable picture from nafei07 - http://nafei07.tumblr.com/post/55878201355/dont-cry-%CF%89 
> 
> All mistakes are my own so please forgive me.

Kili just has lots of energy, he heard Amad say to Uncle Thorin one cold afternoon. She was explaining why Kili could never sit still, why he struggled to pay attention in Balin's lessons and why he wasn't very good at sword-practice. They didn't know that Kili was listening, hiding in the pantry and munching happily on a cookie. Kili didn't really understand why they were talking about him. He tried hard at everything and Fili helped him lots. Mister Dwalin said himself that, once Kili had grown a little more, he would be better with a sword. That afternoon Kili had to hide in the pantry for a long-time until Uncle Thorin left which meant he had to eat ten cookies and felt a little sick that night. He didn't tell Amad why his stomach was making strange noises so he got lots of nice cuddles.

“Kili, are you listening?” 

Kili looked up from the magnificent picture he was drawing with black ink only to find Balin's staring down at him. 

“Yes, Mister Balin,” Kili promised. “I'm drawing what you tell us, look.”

Kili was lying on his stomach and so it took some effort for Balin to kneel down onto the floor beside the young dwarf but he eventually did so. He picked up the picture that Kili had been drawing which caused Kili to get up onto his knees in order to explain who was who. 

“That's Uncle Thorin with his oak branch and that's Grandfather and that's the dragon and that's...”

“This is very good, Kili,” Balin interrupted. “But you're meant to be practising your letters now. Look at the other dwarflings, they're all practising letters.”

Kili glanced around at the other five young dwarfs who were sitting in Mister Balin's warm living-room, including his brother who gave him a fond smile. They were all indeed writing Dwarvish letters onto their parchments. 

“But I'm better at drawing,” Kili explained, swinging on his knees he reached back to hold onto his ankles. “Letters are tricky.”

“I know,” Balin said fondly and even reached out to ruffle Kili's black mop of hair. “That's why it's important you practice. Come now, Fili is doing well, look.”

Fili always did well. Fili was better at everything and he sat still and he listened and he was polite. But then Fili was older so it wasn't fair. Kili sighed in defeat before wiggling about to sit down onto his backside. He turned his beautiful picture over and began to practice his writing but the letters ended up looking more like wobbly shapes than anything else so his attention was soon lost and he crawled across the room to explore where Mister Balin kept his books instead. He managed to find some which had pictures inside and, after a while, Mister Balin came over and asked Kili if he would like to borrow one of the books.

“Borrow one of your books?” Kili asked in surprise. He knew how hard it has been for Mister Balin to find the books. Amad said that they had all left the Lonely Mountain with nothing, so everything they had now they had to all work hard to find...including books.

“I know you'll look after it and bring it back,” Balin said with a smile. Kili already knew which one he wanted to borrow, the one which had pictures of strange animals. He held that book against his chest and smiled up at Mister Balin who now had Fili standing beside him.

“Come on, Kili, we need to meet Mister Dwalin.”

Kili jumped up, excited about the prospect. Lessons with Mister Dwalin were his favourite because it meant he could run around outside. They all marched out of Mister Balin's house and across the forest which they knew so well. Now Fili and Elise were both a little older, their Amad's let them go from one lesson to another by themselves. Kili liked spending time with Fili and the other dwarflings but Fili the most because Fili was his best-friend. 

As they walked across the snow together heading towards the small mine where some of the men and dwarfs from the nearby villages worked, Kili picked up the biggest stick he could find with the hand that wasn't holding onto the book. Now he had a sword to protect them all, if need be, from orcs and goblins and men-kind who could sometimes act bit strange when they had been drinking. Not like dwarfs. When dwarfs drank they would sing songs and be merry. Kili knew, because Kili had seen it. 

“Fili,” Kili said as he swung his 'sword' from side-to-side, swiping at the leaves. “Do you think Amad's cookies give us energy?”

He had been contemplating this and, if having too much energy was a problem, perhaps cookies were to blame. Kili knew full well that he ate more cookies than anyone else. He even snuck a few extra into his mouth once in a while, hoping that Amad wouldn't notice that the jar was getting empty.

“I don't think so, Kili,” Fili explained, clearly knowing all about it. “I think sleep gives you energy. Amad always told me that when I wouldn't go to bed. She said that it gives you energy for the next day when you sleep.”

As well as liking cookies, Kili also liked to sleep. In fact he sometimes found it hard to wake up in the morning. Perhaps that was it, that was the problem. He needed to sleep less then he would sit still in his chair, listen in lessons and be better with a sword.

When they reached the mine it didn't take them long for them to find Dwalin who was waiting beside a cart. With his lack of hair on top and his tattoos, he did stand up from the other men and dwarfs. Mister Dwalin always finished work early on the second and fourth day to give the dwarflings weapon lessons. Little Gretlin and Ori just watched because they were too small but the three boys and Elise, determined to do better than all of the boys, loved their lessons. Fili and Elise were now using proper metal swords. They were smaller than the ones adults had and blunt but, even so, Kili looked at them enviously as he stood with a wooden sword in his hand. Mister Dwalin had even promised Fili not very long ago that he would be allowed to learn how to throw an axe soon. Kili was very jealous.

“Kili! Are you paying attention, laddie?” Came the booming voice of Dwalin from across the opening in the forest. Kili's eyes darted around until he saw where Dwalin was again. “You're meant to be watching and following. Come on, or we won't be-able to do practice fights.”

Kili tried to pay attention then. He attempted to mimic every thrust and block Dwalin was teaching them but sometimes his legs got confused and he tripped over his own feet. Every time he fell into the snow little Gretlin giggled which made Kili feel hot with anger.

“You're facing the wrong way, Kili,” Fili pointed out and lowered his sword to hurry over and re-adjust Kili until he was standing in the right direction.

“Thank you, Fili,” Kili responded, calming with the presence of his big brother so close-by. 

“You're welcome,” Fili said with a smile and then stuck close. Only, as soon as they had to take a step forward, Kili accidentally used the wrong foot again but Dwalin didn't mind, he shouted out encouragement, praising Kili for trying which made Kili grin with delight. 

Once they had spend time practising their thrusting they were allowed to have a pretend fight. Fili always fought with Elise because they were the same age so Kili had to fight with Haylin, who was a male dwarfling one year older than Kili but already twice as wide. 

Dwalin lingered close-by to make sure that no-one got hurt. Kili tried, he swung his wooden sword carefully and attempted to reach Haylin with it. Only Haylin kept on knocking Kili's sword out of the way and slapping Kili on the side with his own. One the slap was a little hard and it made Kili yelp.

“Haylin,” Dwalin growled a warning. “Not too hard, lad. Go easy.”

Kili frowned and rubbed his side which now felt sore. 

“Kili!!” Came a familiar booming voice from not so far away. “Concentrate!”

Kili's head quickly snapped to where the voice had come from and he saw Uncle Thorin watching with his arms folded. Uncle Thorin was a tall for a dwarf and, when he folded his arms, he looked very stern indeed. Kili wanted to impress Uncle Thorin so that Uncle Thorin would be happy with him, so Killi nodded, raised his sword and tried again. He charged at Haylin who looked shocked at first but then he dived and Kili found himself running into thin-air. He couldn't stop in time and he fell over the crouching Haylin, falling face first into the snow and hitting his chin on something hard.

“Kili!” He heard someone shout and very soon strong hands were lifting him up onto his feet. Mister Dwalin was there, kneeling down, brushing the snow off Kili's clothes and looking concerned. “Are you alright, lad? Are you hurt?”

Kili didn't want to cry but he couldn't help it; his chin really hurt. He held onto it with his hand but soon his fingers were feeling wet and hot.

“Ah, laddie, you've cut yourself, let me look.” Dwalin reached out and gently attempted to tug Kili's hand away but then something stopped him. Thorin suddenly appeared beside Dwalin and he was pulling Dwalin's hand away. He didn't look worried at all, he just looked angry.

“Have you listened to anything Dwalin has taught you? Why would you just run at someone like that?!”

Tears were streaming down Kili's cheeks now but he was trying his very best not to sob out loud but his chin hurt and he wanted Fili. 

“Kili, answer me!”

Kili jumped at the raised voice but didn't answer, his bottom lip was wobbling too much.

“For Mahal's sake, Thorin, leave the lad alone. He's hurt.”

“He's not just a lad, Dwalin. He's from the house of Durin and he needs to learn...”

Dwalin interrupted. “...and he has some of Durin's blood running down his chin which means he's hurt.”

It wasn't until Kili felt a hand on his shoulder and saw the worried face of his brother that he finally lost it. He threw himself at Fili, flung his face into his brother's tunic and wailed. 

Mister Dwalin kindly carried Kili home and Kili held tightly onto his book with one hand and onto the fur which Dwalin had around his collar with the other, it was comfortable and warm. In fact with the gentle bobbing of movement added to the warmth of the fur, Kili was all but asleep by the time they reached home. Amad was not very happy to see the state that Kili was in.

“What happened?!” She gasped. “Get him into the kitchen.”

Soon a sleepy Kili was deposited onto a chair and Amad was fetching hot water from the fire-place.

“Just an accident during sword-fighting, Dis,” Dwalin said. “Nothing to worry about.”

Fili was standing beside Kili's chair, hand placed back onto Kili's shoulder.

“Does it hurt, Kili?” his brother asked, sounding very concerned.

Kili nodded his response, because it still did.

“I'm sorry you got hurt,” Fili said before wrapping his arms around his brother again, not caring that some of Kili's blood had now stained his shirt.

“I'm sick of the lot of you,” Amad was muttering as she poured hot water into a bowl. “I told Thorin that he's too young to be playing around with weapons.”

“We're not playing, Amad,” Fili explained, not loosening his grip on his little brother. “We're training. For when we have to go and fight the dragon.”

“You'll not be fighting any dragon until you're both tall enough to see over the table and, even then, you'll have to ask my permission first,” she pointed out and then came over with a bowl of water and a cloth.

Amad carefully cleaned Kili's face up, making sure that she didn't make the cut bleed again. Then ordered Dwalin to warm up a bath. Dwalin, who had always been a little scared of Amad, did as he was told. Fili stuck close-by Kili at all times and even asked Amad if Kili could sleep in his bed that night, just in case. Amad, who had told them recently that they were both getting too big to still share a bed agreed, just this once.

Once they were both clean from the bath and dressed in fresh night-clothes, they curled up underneath the blankets on Fili's bed together.

“Don't you listen to Uncle Thorin,” Fili whispered. “He hasn't seen you with a bow and arrow yet. You're the best with a bow and arrow. Not even Elise and I can beat you. Sometimes my arrow falls down before I've even fired it but you always get the target.”

Kili didn't smile because it would hurt his chin but it did make him feel better thinking about it. Yes, he could show Uncle Thorin how good he was at shooting arrows. Then Uncle Thorin would be pleased with him. Kili was planning to stay awake for a while, to get less sleep so that he wouldn't have as much energy the next day. Only his plan didn't go too well because Fili was cosy.

The next morning Kili forgot about his poorly chin until the yawn he attempted after his wake-up stretch reminded him. After wincing a little in pain he sat himself up, all bleary-eyed and sleepy, to discovered that Fili was already wide awake and had his finger over his mouth to tell Kili to be quiet. There was noises, raised voices. The two boys tip-toed out of their bedroom into the hallway to listen. 

“You expect too much of them, Thorin.”

“I have to. They are sons of Durin...”

“They're dwarflings,” Amad snapped. “And, right now, that's all they need to be.”

“Dis...”

“No. If Fili is sensitive, then I'm glad for it. If Kili finds it difficult to concentrate on his studies, that just means he's not ready for them yet. I will not change my son's to suit whatever expectation you have of them. Kili might have a scar on his chin now, Thorin. It may make his beard grow strange. Do you even think about these things?”

“It was just a small cut.”

“And he's a very small little boy and, whilst I am his Amad, he will not be sword-fighting anymore until I say so.”

Kili felt cross. He liked sword-fighting with Mister Dwalin and how was he going to get better and help Uncle Thorin fight the dragon, if he wasn't allowed to practice?

“You're making a mistake. Kili needs to learn,” they heard Thorin say but that seemed to be that as far as Amad was concerned because soon she was calling for them and they had to dash back into their bedroom to pretend that they had just woken up.

Thorin joined them for breakfast that morning but just sat there silently with a frown on his face. Kili tried to keep quiet; he knew it was his fault that Thorin was angry and he didn't want to make it worse. But he still couldn't help fidgeting in his seat and laughing when Fili tried to steal some of his berries. 

“You're going to stay home with me today, Kili, whilst Fili goes off to his lessons.”

Kili gasped and looked up at Amad who was pottering around the kitchen. 

“Why?”

“Because of your chin. I want to make sure that you're feeling well.”

“I am well, Amad!” Kili told her. He wanted to learn to write, he wanted to learn how to fight with a sword and he wanted to sit still in his chair to please Thorin. “I am well. Please, Amad, I want to go with Fili.”

“Don't argue with your Amad,” snapped Thorin. “She is under the belief that she knows best.” That immediately made Kili go quiet he lowered his gaze down to his empty breakfast plate. “I need to go to the mine,” he heard Thorin say and then glanced up just in time to witness Uncle Thorin slapping down his napkin and scraping his chair back as he stood.

Once Thorin had gone, Kili excused himself as well. He jumped down from his chair and went into his bedroom, eyes filling with tears. If Amad wouldn't let him learn and Thorin wouldn't like him until he did learn, there was only one thing for it. He would have to run away. He would run away and teach himself and then come back when he was a big dwarf who could sit still in his chair, write good Dwarfish letters and know how to fight with a sword.

Kili went to fetch his brown satchel and tried to decide what he would need to take if he was running away. He would need some clothes, that was for sure. So he shoved a shirt and some warm socks into his satchel. He would also need something to do because he would be on his own a lot without Fili or Amad. So he picked up Mister Balin's book and put that into his satchel as well. 

“What are you doing?” Fili's asked as he entered the room they shared.

“I'm running away,” Kili explained.

“Oh...” was the response. “Can I run away with you?”

Kili turned to look at Fili. Fili was a little blurry so Kili wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his sleeve. “Fili, I would like you to come because you are my big brother and my best friend, but sadly you cannot. I must run away on my own.”

“Oh,” Fili appeared to nod his understanding. “I see. What are you packing?”

Kili looked down at the bag on his bed. “I have clothes and a book. What else do I need?” 

“Your bow and arrows?” Fili suggested. “So you can catch animals to eat.”

Fili had made a good suggestion so Kili went over to fetch the bow Dwalin had given him for his last name day and the five arrows that he had to go with it. He placed them on his bed beside his satchel. 

“And a blanket,” Fili proposed helpfully. “It will be cold if you're going to sleep outside. Which you'll have to at first if you run away.”

Fili was very good at this. Kili grabbed a blanket from his bed, folded it up badly and shoved it into his satchel. Now his satchel was very full and he struggled to close the buckles. Thankfully Fili came over to kindly help.

“You need to tell Amad that you're running away so she can pack you some lunch and cookies for the journey.”

Cookies would be a very good idea, Kili decided. So he carried his satchel and his bow and arrows into the kitchen. Fili followed.

“Amad, Kili is running away.”

Amad quickly turned from washing the dishes and stared across at her youngest son.

“And why is Kili running away?” she asked, looking directly at him.

“Because Uncle Thorin doesn't think I can do things and you won't let me learn. So I am angry and I am going away to learn and then I will come back and show him.”

“I see,” she said, with a knowing nod.

“I said that you would pack him some lunch and give him some cookies for his journey,” Fili explained, moving to sit down at the table.

“Ah yes, I will. Well, where are you going, Kili? I need to know in order to figure out which food I should pack you. If you're going out into the forest then you won't need meat or berries, you'll want bread and cheese. If you're going into a village, then you'll need things from the forest.”

Amad had made a good point because Kili hadn't even thought about where he was going. He gave it some thought there and then, readjusting the heavy satchel strap on his shoulder. “I'll go to where Bomber takes us fishing and stay there tonight. Then I'll walk along the river until I find a crossing. Then I'll be off.” He threw his arm into the air to establish what going 'off' meant. “And you won't see me again until I am tall like Uncle Thorin.”

“Right,” she said. “In that case you need some pie and some cheese.” 

Amad set about making Kili lunch. Kili smiled as he watched her wrap the food up for him. They didn't have a lot of food sometimes but today Amad was being very generous.

“And cookies?” he asked upon realising that she hadn't gone for the cookie jar yet. “For my journey?”

“And cookies,” She smiled and placed four cookies with the cheese. She came over to hand him the food but then frowned at everything he was already carrying. 

“You may have to leave something behind. What do you have in your bag?”

Kili heaved the satchel onto the table. “Clothes, a book and my blanket.”

“Ah, well, those are all very important things. Hold on then, you'll need a second bag.”

Amad disappeared from the room for a moment and Kili waited patiently.

“I will miss you when you're gone, Kili,” Fili said wistfully. “I don't know who I will play with.”

“I will miss you as well, Fili,” Kili pointed out and suddenly felt very sad. “I will miss you a great deal.”

Kili went over to his brother and they both embraced in a hug. 

“Will you have a beard when you come back?” Fili asked when the hug had finished.

“I hope so!” Kili said with a smile. Fili already had fine golden hairs on his chin whereas Kili had nothing so far. Perhaps he would grow a beard on his journey. Amad reappeared with a bag that Kili suspected belonged to Uncle Thorin. 

“Here we go.” She knelt down in front of Kili and helped him readjust everything. Soon he had a bag across each shoulder and his bow squashed between his bags and his back. That meant he only had to carry his five arrows in his hand. The bags were heavy but Kili knew that he needed to take everything.

“So, you're going to where Bomber takes you fishing?” she asked. “You know the way by yourself?”

“Yes, Amad,” Kili assured her. “I need to go into the village and then follow the path beside the bread shop.”

“Good,” Amad said and leaned forward to press her forehead against his. “I love you very much, my dark-haired prince.”

“I love you, Amad,” Kili said and reached out to wrap his arms around her neck. “I will miss you.”

After saying his good-byes Kili set out. He walked down the path from their small house and headed towards the nearest village. It wasn't easy with all of the things he was carrying but, if he was going to grow into a big dwarf, then he needed to learn how to be strong and carry things. He just put one foot in front of the other until he got closer to the village.

“Kili!” Came the familiar voice of Bofur. Kili liked Bofur a whole lot. “Where are you off to?”

Kili stopped on the path and looked up at Bofur. Bofur gave Fili and Kili the best presents on their name day so he thought that it would be polite to explain the situation to Bofur.

“I am running away, Bofur.”

“Running away?” Bofur raised an eyebrow. “And why are you doing that?”

“Because Uncle Thorin thinks I cannot do anything. So I am going to learn and then show him.”

“I see.” Bofur winked. “And where are you running to?”

Why was everyone asking that? “To where Bomber takes us fishing. But tomorrow I will find a way across the river and then I will be gone.”

“Right,” Bofur nodded before standing up straighter. “Then good luck to you, lad! We'll all miss you but I understand why you need to go.”

Bofur smiled and Kili grinned back before continuing his journey. He smiled and waved the best he could with all of his baggage to everyone he knew in the village before finding the path Bomber took them down and followed it down to the river. By the time he got there he was exhausted. He promptly dropped all of his bags down onto the snow and collapsed in a heap on top of them, trying to get his breath back. This running away was tiring business.

Once he felt better, he rolled off the bags and dug into one to find the cookies. He needed the energy now, he decided, so just ate one...which turned into two...then three. He put the last cookie back into the bag to save for another day. 

It was cold down by the river but Kili didn't know how to make a fire. Still, he decided it was worth a try so he went about fetching dry wood. He managed to collect quite a large pile but then didn't know what to do with it. So he sighed and pulled his blanket out, placing it down over the snow close to where a dead tree had fallen which provided him with a little shelter. Then he sat down onto his blanket and wondered what else to do. He was bored now and wished that Fili was there so they could fish or play. He ended up tugging his book out and looked carefully at all of the pictures until he had seen every picture twice. Putting the book down he wondered what to do next until he heard a noise. The scrunching of the snow sounded too light to be a dwarf or human, so it had to be an animal. Kili immediately grabbed his bow and an arrow and went to investigate.

He crept quietly around the forest, listening carefully for any noises. He heard something rustling, so tip-toed closer until he saw some light brown fur behind a bush. He knelt down onto the ground and waited patiently. Eventually a small deer came out from behind the bush chewing some grass. Perfect, Kili, thought. That would feed him for a long time! Kili placed the arrow into the bow and raised the bow slowly. The animal hadn't even noticed that he was there. Sticking his tongue out in concentration he pulled back his bow and aimed for his target. As he did so, the deer turned to look straight at him, still chewing. It wasn't startled and it didn't run. Kili stared back at the deer's eyes. The deer seemed very happy eating peacefully in the forest and suddenly Kili wasn't sure if he wanted to eat it anymore. He couldn't make a fire to cook the meat anyway.

Kili began to lower the bow back down when there was a loud snap which made him jump. The noise frightened the deer as well and it ran away. Kili looked down at his bow, the string had come apart. Running his fingers along the frayed edge of the string Kili's bottom lip wobbled. He didn't know how to fix it, he didn't know what to do. Now what would he eat? He had already eaten three of his cookies.

Kili ran back to the river and his bags, sat himself down onto the blanket, pulled his knees up to his chest and sobbed. He didn't want to run away anymore; he wanted Amad and Fili.

He cried into his knees, the broken bow cradled on his lap, until he heard the crunching of heavy footsteps in the snow.

“Kili?” a male voice called gently. Kili didn't even look up, he knew who the voice belonged to; Uncle Thorin.

“Go away,” Kili mumbled into his knees. He didn't want to see Uncle Thorin. He was angry at Uncle Thorin.

Only Thorin didn't go away, or at least Kili didn't hear him go. He curiously lifted up his tear soaked face and saw Thorin sitting on a branch of the dead tree watching.

“Go away!” Kili screamed, more tears falling from his eyes. “I have run away!”

“So I heard,” Thorin said gently. “Your Amad told me...and your brother...and Bofur...and half of the village.”

“Well running away means I cannot see you anymore,” Kili explained and buried his face once more.

“Kili, I...” Uncle Thorin seemed to move. Kili heard footsteps on the snow getting closer. Then he felt the blanket tugging as Thorin sat down onto it. “...I want to say sorry to you, Kili. I have been told that it is my fault that you ran away. Is that true?”

Kili nodded into his knees.

“Kili, look up and talk to me.”

Kili shook his head. He heard Thorin sigh.

“I have been too harsh on you,” he said. “I should not have been. It's just that...” Thorin stopped talking. He stopped talking for so long that Kili lifted his head again only to discover that Thorin was still sitting crossed-legged in front of him. He just appeared to be lost in thought. When he saw that Kili was staring he almost seemed surprised. “I don't have any children of my own, Kili,” he explained even though Kili already knew that. “That is why you and Fili are very special to me. But I suppose I have been harsh on you like my father was to me. He tried to push me in everything. He wanted me to be better than all of the other dwarflings. Stronger, smarter, faster...it was hard to live up to it. And now I realise that I have been doing the same to you but please understand that it is only because I want the best. And yet...Dis is right, you are already perfect.”

Thorin leaned forward then and placed a large hand onto Kili's folded arms.

“I love you, Kili, very much. I am sorry that I made you feel like you want to run away. I never want you to run away. I want you to always be by my side. Will you come back with me?”

Kili lowered his knees a little and grabbed hold of his bow to pick it up and show Uncle Thorin. 

“My bow broke,” he explained. “Now I can't catch any food.”

Thorin eyed the bow thoughtfully. “I can help you fix that back at your house. Do you like shooting arrows?”

Kili nodded enthusiastically. “I'm good at it. I get the target every time. Mister Dwalin says that I am the best at it.”

Thorin seemed to smile a little. “I didn't know that. Let me tell you a secret. When I was younger I was taught to fight with swords and axes but, secretly, I always quite enjoyed using a bow and arrow myself. Perhaps...would you like it if I gave you lessons? Just you and me. Secret lessons. We don't have to tell anyone.” 

Thorin winked and Kili grinned with glee at the thought of having a secret with Uncle Thorin even though grinning hurt his chin. Time alone with Uncle Thorin, that would be very special indeed.

“What's this?” Thorin asked, leaning over and reaching for the book.

“Mister Balin gave it to me. It has good pictures in it.”

Thorin nodded and pulled the book onto his lap, he opened it up and looked through carefully. “I hear you like drawing?” he asked Kili. 

Kili nodded. “Yes. I draw pictures of you lots.”

Throin looked up in shock, but then he smiled. “I'd like to see them sometime. Can you read this?” He lifted the book up slightly. Kili shook his head.

“Then let me read some of it to you so we can learn about some animals. Then we'll go back home.”

Kili got up and went over to Thorin, he turned around and fell down onto Thorin's lap. Thorin made an 'umpf' noise before placing the book across them both and slowly read what it said beside the pictures so Kili could understand. 

After sharing his last cookie and his pie with Uncle Thorin, Thorin said that it was getting cold so they should head back. Kili was tired after his running away adventure, so Uncle Thorin carried Kili's bags as well as Kili himself, all the way home.


End file.
